Posts Tagged: exterior waterproofing

It doesn’t take long for water damage to destroy a perfectly good home. If you’re a homeowner, then you surely understand the weight and importance of your investment. It only makes sense to do all that you can to protect that investment, your home, whenever possible. Exterior basement waterproofing is just one of the many small things you can do that will make a big difference in the life of your home.

Basement waterproofing is one of the most common ways you can protect your home from water damage in the future. You have two general categories of basement waterproofing. The first is internal waterproofing and the second is external.

Internal waterproofing is much easier to handle. It’s so easy that many homeowners take the DIY route to protect their home. While this is certainly better than no protection at all, it’s not the best for your home. External waterproofing costs a little more, takes more time, but does a great deal more to protect your home.

External waterproofing relies primarily on a set of drainage systems and drain pipes. The drainage system is dug into the ground and surrounds the basement entirely. The idea is to catch and move water away from the basement, thus preventing flooding from occurring.

When it rains heavily, it goes into the drainage system. It passes through the system and eventually exits through the footer drain pipes at the end. The drainage system itself isn’t a series of pipes, but rather layers of limestone gravel. Limestone gravel works as an extremely effective, affordable, and all-natural drainage system.

Exterior waterproofing certainly requires a lot more work than the internal method, but that’s partially why it is so much more effective. It requires a deal of excavation to install or repair external waterproofing systems. This excavation usually relies on heavy equipment, which causes the price to increase significantly.

However, you can do a lot to maintain your waterproofing system on your own once it is installed. Taking care of it yourself will reduce the risk of accidents occurring in the future. Fixing damage in the system can be just as expensive as the initial installation.

An external drainage system like this is the best way to protect your home from severe water damage. No other technique is as effective at protecting the home. Even floods can be diverted with a quality waterproofing system. Wait to long to install yours and it could be too late.